Chigger's Adventures

  PLANT CITY, FLORIDA FOR THE WINTER We drove to Plant City and parked our little camper on a friend’s property. It’s another super nice place with a huge grassy yard for me to play in! I get to play ball a lot and roll in the grass and let the grass scratch my back. It’s like I have my own private dog park! Heaven! It’s a little cooler now, finally!   Most days da mommy and da daddy leave early in the morning to get me a few bites of luscious breakfast. This is like a breakfast dessert, since I’ve already eaten my dog food. Don’t get me wrong, I like my dog food. But I LOVE the little bites that they bring back to me. It’s so nice that they go out just to get me these treats. The other day we took a long drive back to Salt Springs, where we used to live in the RV park. I was glad to spend the day with Mommy and Daddy, but it was pretty boring being in the car most of the day. One good thing though, I got to see my favorite buddies that live there, Rich and Carole. They ...

  FLORIDA                     Campground at Sebastian Inlet W e made our way back to hot Florida and my brown couch at Aunt Debby’s house. Ah! Another place that feels like home. I love being here. I get to see Debby and her family, and also Mamaw and Papaw, who live nearby. I have a funny story about Mamaw. Another wonderful aunt of mine, Sandy, and her husband Nathan gave me a sweet toy for Christmas last year. It was some kind of animal, and it squeaked. I loved that toy!! Well da mommy and da daddy like to play a game where they ask me “Where’s Mommy?” and I look at Mommy. Then “Where’s Daddy?” and I look at Daddy. Then when we’re with Mamaw and Papaw, they do that with them. So I had left my new toy across the room, and da daddy asked me “Where’s Grandma?” and instead of looking at Mamaw, I went to get my toy. After that, the toy was called “Grandma.” Everybody thought that was pretty funny. I didn’t really see wh...

  CONGAREE NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH CAROLINA When we were at Acadia National Park, da mommy and da daddy came up with an idea to visit all the national parks that they haven’t been to. I guess our adventure is taking yet another turn. It’s a good thing Daddy writes his plans in pencil.   On our way south, back to hot Florida, we stopped at a national park in the middle of South Carolina, Congaree National Park. It’s a beautiful place with very very tall trees. We got to walk on a boardwalk and see the big trees and some pretty birds, which I tried hard not to chase. The people working there were very nice.

  BACK TO SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE Yay!!!! After dropping Sandy off so she could fly home, we drove a long way, back to Smith Mountain Lake! Ah! Feels like home. Da daddy painted some more, and da mommy worked on the little box that she taps with her fingers. This is such a relaxing place. We all love it here.   We moved on to another fun place, Heather’s house. Heather is Daddy’s daughter. She lives in another part of Virginia. Heather and her family have four great kids and a little dog that barks … like a little dog. I didn’t play with that dog much because she was very small and maybe a little afraid of me. She mostly stayed on the couch hiding behind big pillows.   But I did get to play with the two little boys. They had fun throwing the tennis ball for me. And they have a huge yard – really, it’s a small farm. So I could run around. They have goats that, of course, I had to try to chase (on the other side of the fence). They also have a bunch of chickens that I D...

  EVEN FURTHER NORTH TO MAINE, AND MOM'S COMPLETION OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL  We met da mommy and da daddy’s friend Sandy (Tara Monkey) a little further north in Virginia. She rode in the back seat with me and she loved me a lot. I gave her kisses and I rested my chin on her leg. She’s super awesome.   We drove to northern Virginia to where another friend lives. We had planned to stay with her for the night. But that friend was in a car accident earlier that day so she was at the hospital. I’m not sure what a hospital is, but it sounds like a sad place. I think she is okay and not hurt too bad. But it didn’t work out for us to stay at her house, so her husband took us to their church where we parked our camper outside in the parking lot. Sandy slept inside in the nursery. There was a great big room where da mommy and da daddy played ball with me. But we are not supposed to tell their friend that I was inside  the church. (Shhhhh!)    I was glad to he...

  SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, VIRGINIA (still 2019) We headed north again. Thank goodness because Florida is just too hot in August! We went to a little house on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia that da daddy’s brother and his family own. Da daddy painted the inside of the house, and I was very happy because his back didn’t hurt him too bad. But at the end of each day it hurt him, and he just wanted to sit in a comfy chair and watch TV. That’s okay, because I liked lying on the floor next to him, or on the couch with da mommy.   The lake was GREAT! Da mommy took me for walks a couple of times every day and it was nice and cool. We saw deer and squirrels, and it was hard not to chase them. There was a dock that we walked out on, but I was totally confused because I couldn’t figure out how to get to the water to get a drink or to swim. But pretty soon we found a little beach where I could get in the water, and da mommy would throw a stick for me to swim to and bring back. This place w...

  JUNIPER SPRINGS, OCALA NATIONAL FOREST, FLORIDA (still 2019) We left Hot Springs and headed to HOT Florida to camp with some of our family. Da daddy did a good job of keeping our little camper cool for us. And the campground was nice, with trails that I walked on with da mommy, and lots of shade so it wasn’t too hot even in the daytime. But I had to stay in the trailer a lot because for some reason I couldn’t go to swim in the springs with da mommy and da daddy. I don’t understand rules sometimes.   And there was a little white dog in our camp named Henry. He came with our North Carolina family. He was okay but I think he was a little afraid of me and we played some, but not a lot. My favorite part of this camping trip was that I got a whole hot dog that someone had cooked over the fire. It was tasty!   After Juniper Springs we went to Plant City for a few days to see some more family. Here's a picture of my good buddy Abbie with her human, Sam:  While we were ...

AT LAUGHING HEART HOSTEL, HOT SPRINGS, NORTH CAROLINA (2019) AT LAUGHING HEART HOSTEL, HOT SPRINGS, NORTH CAROLINA March through July 2019 My time at the hostel in Hot Springs was HEAVENLY! I loved the cozy cabin that we lived in.  I loved the freedom I had because the hostel and cabin are on huge grassy property, and I could stay outside almost all the time. It was very safe there. I loved that da daddy and da mommy were always home. I loved going for hikes with da mommy.  I loved being around lots of nice people who were hiking on the Appalachian Trail. I loved sneaking into the hostel and sniffing around and sometimes finding dog treats or toys that some hiking dog left behind. I guess da daddy and da mommy didn’t love me sneaking in there, because a few times they were pretty freaked out because they couldn’t find me. But I was safe and sound in a corner in a cozy room, playing with a new toy or chewing on a tasty treat.   The thing I loved most about my life at...